Charles’ wedding postponed
The wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles has been postponed by 24 hours to avoid a clash with the funeral of Pope John Paul II.
Clarence House announced this afternoon that the wedding would now take place on Saturday, allowing Prince Charles to travel to Rome for the Pope’s Requiem Mass on Friday morning.
The head of the worldwide Anglican Church, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, and Prime Minister Tony Blair were likely to miss the royal wedding because of the clash.
But they will now be able to attend both events, as will the Duchess of Kent and Princess Michael of Kent, both Roman Catholics.
Earlier, Clarence House officials confirmed the wedding was going ahead as planned but said they would “keep an eye on” sensitive events taking place in Rome and elsewhere in the world.
The Prince of Wales cut short his skiing holiday to attend today’s memorial for the Pope at Westminster cathedral.
The funeral of the Pope, who died on Saturday night at the age of 84, will take place at 09:00 BST on April 8th. The Polish-born pontiff will then be buried in the crypt of the Vatican.
